F1 cars are now approved in France
The FIA has decided to centralize all of its logistics in one single location: the Savoyard village of Valleiry. It is in this center that all F1 cars will now undergo their homologation crash tests.
The off-season has been busy for the various F1 teams, which have to deal with significant regulatory changes. This has resulted in major modifications to the vehicles’ aerodynamics and therefore their exterior design. Some have struggled to meet the homologation crash-test requirements on their first attempt.
But this is not the only change they have had to face: the approval center for their single-seaters is no longer in England but in France. Indeed, at the end of January, the FIA inaugurated its new logistics and technical center in Valleiry. The decision was made to consolidate all these activities in this field on one single site, which had previously been spread across London and Paris. Jean Todt, the re-elected president of the Federation, stated: “We had intended for some time to consolidate our logistical and technical operations under one roof, and I am very pleased to finally see this wish fulfilled. This new center will not only serve as a platform to enhance technical excellence, but it will also allow the FIA to better plan its motorsport operations and thus achieve significant savings in the future.”
The interest of this site for the FIA is that it is located only 25 kilometers from its offices in Geneva, which greatly simplifies the management of its operations. It will also store all the vehicles and support equipment that it moves to the races, including the radio and weather station, two catering trucks, and the two technical trucks present at each European F1 Grand Prix. But since F1 is not the only event organized by the FIA, the Valleiry center will also host the equipment and vehicles used for rallying, the WTCC, and the world karting championships.
In addition to the logistical and certification aspect, the center is also expected to host a center of excellence dedicated to the future of motorsport, the promotion of new energy sources, and safety. The FIA has, in fact, made the usefulness of motorsports for the everyday car one of its priorities for the coming years.
It will be all the more easier to do from this location as 600 companies in the department are already working in the field of precision mechanics, due to the proximity of Swiss watch factories. This is why the General Council of Savoie has decided to finance half of the investment, amounting to 500,000 euros out of a total of 1.1 million.
With the participation of www.Racingbusiness.fr
